Zion Williamson tallied 34 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals and the host New Orleans Pelicans held off the Los Angeles Clippers 112-104 on Friday night.
Trey Murphy III added 14 points, Brandon Ingram scored 13, Larry Nance Jr. had 12 and CJ McCollum put up 11 as the Pelicans (40-26) won the season series against the Clippers, 3-1. New Orleans also moved within two games of fourth-place Los Angeles (42-24) in the Western Conference standings.
Paul George scored 26, Kawhi Leonard had 23 and Norman Powell added 15 for Los Angeles, which played without James Harden (strained left shoulder) for a second consecutive game.
The Clippers got within four points four times before a Williamson field goal and an Ingram 3-pointer increased the lead to 105-96 with 5:37 to play. Baskets by George and Leonard got Los Angeles within five before Nance and Williamson put the game out of reach.
Suns 107, Hornets 96
Devin Booker racked up 21 points to guide Phoenix’s balanced attack in a victory against host Charlotte.
Grayson Allen had 17 points, Bradley Beal posted 15 points, Eric Gordon provided 14 points off the bench and Jusuf Nurkic (21 rebounds) and Kevin Durant both finished with 13 points for Phoenix (39-28).
Vasilije Micic’s 21 points and Grant Williams’ 20 points led the Hornets (17-50), who’ve lost eight of their last 10 games. Miles Bridges notched 17 points and 10 rebounds and Brandon Miller had 14 points.
Heat 108, Pistons 95
Bam Adebayo produced 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocks as Miami beat host Detroit to snap a four-game losing streak.
Caleb Martin had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Miami (36-30). Terry Rozier also scored 18 points, Duncan Robinson supplied 16 points and five assists and Jimmy Butler added 14 points.
Simone Fontecchio put up 24 points for the Pistons (12-54), who had won three of their previous four games. Jalen Duren had 15 points and 17 rebounds, and Jaden Ivey tossed in 14 points and handed out nine assists.
Nuggets 117, Spurs 106
Nikola Jokic poured in 31 points in three quarters of action to help surging Denver beat San Antonio in Austin, Texas.
The Nuggets (47-20) led by as many as 21 points in the second period, by nine at halftime and by seven after three quarters. Denver put away the game via a 15-5 surge over the first five minutes of the fourth period, going up 101-84 on a jumper by Jamal Murray with 7:20 to play. The Nuggets won their fifth straight and its 11th out of 12 games since the All-Star break.
Jeremy Sochan led San Antonio with 19 points. Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama scored 17 points each, Zach Collins had 13 and Julian Champagnie tallied 10 points. The Spurs (14-53) have lost three straight games, all as the home team.
Magic 113, Raptors 103
Franz Wagner scored 19 points and visiting Orlando defeated undermanned Toronto.
Paolo Banchero added 17 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Magic, who have won 10 of their past 13 games. The teams play again Sunday in Orlando. The Magic (39-28) have won the first two meetings
Gary Trent Jr. scored a season-best 31 points for the Raptors, who have lost six in a row. Jordan Nwora added 14 points and Bruce Brown had 12. Immanuel Quickley, Kelly Olynyk and Jahmi’us Ramsey each had 10 points for Toronto (23-44).
Jazz 124, Hawks 122
Keyonte George scored 25 points and Collin Sexton added 21 as host Utah snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over Atlanta.
The short-handed Jazz (29-37) started three rookies, including George, Brice Sensabaugh (14 points) and Taylor Hendricks (10 rebounds). Utah got a lift and career-high nights by G-League call-ups Johnny Juzang (19 points) and Micah Potter (11 points).
Veteran John Collins, who played the previous six seasons with Atlanta, contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds against his former team. Dejounte Murray led all scorers with 33 points to go with nine assists and seven rebounds.
–Field Level Media